


Making Things Up Again

by voidde



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:30:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8212024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidde/pseuds/voidde
Summary: “We’re just friends, Baba! We promise!”
“Yeah!” Arnold shouted supportively. “In fact-”
  Oh no.
“-I’m already dating someone else!”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> uncreative title aside, i'm honestly really surprised this hasn't been done before because this is the perfect ship for this trope. but anyway i'm really excited about this story! i know i haven't been the best with updating in the past, but i've already got four chapters written out so i'm gonna try to actually finish this one!
> 
> also i know there's inconsistencies but like. imagine uganda isn't as fatally homophobic and arnold saying "let people do what they want" just changed everybody's minds. and imagine that arnold calls nabulungi "naba" because at least it's easier.
> 
> also i know my interests are all over the place lmao ;_;

A cheerful laugh rang through the small Ugandan village. Nabulungi covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to quiet her laughter, but when she took another look at Arnold’s grinning face, it started up again, louder than before. People passing by would smile at the scene, glad to see the girl they all knew and loved happy again. Arnold simply watched her laugh, a feeling of delight bubbling up in his stomach. It had been quite a long time since someone laughed so genuinely at one of his terrible jokes. It felt nice.

Her laughter died down as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Where do you even come up with these things, Arnold?”

“I don’t know! It just kinda comes out!”

“Oh, god,” she sighed, regaining her composure.

“I’m glad you like my jokes!” he shouted suddenly. “People don’t usually find them very funny!”

 _There! That was honest_ , he thought to himself. _When even was the last time I told a lie?_ He found he couldn’t remember, but figured it must not have been too long ago. Since his mess with the people of the village and all his lies about the Mormon religion, Arnold had been trying his hardest to keep himself honest. A couple fibs would slip out now and then, but they normally weren’t very important. He figured that accidently recounting what he had for breakfast wrong every now and then wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Nabulungi looked a bit shocked. “Really? That’s hard to believe! I love all of your jokes!”

Arnold felt the happiness in his stomach overflow until he felt the warm feeling all over. However, that was quickly replaced by a feeling of cold dread as he sensed a presence behind himself. The presence was quickly confirmed by Nabulungi.

“Hi, Baba!” she said, cheerfully waving to her father.

Arnold relaxed a bit as he watched the man step over to face both of them. He greeted his daughter, but just as the Arnold was about to say hello as well, he shot the boy a look that Arnold could only describe as terrifying.

“So, what are you kids up to over here?” he asked - no, demanded - still only focused on Arnold. He wondered how Nabulungi could still have that bright smile on her face.

“Uh… nothing, sir…” Arnold said quietly and respectfully.

“Arn- Uh, Elder Cunningham was just telling me some jokes! He’s very funny!” Nabulungi chimed in.

Her father turned back to her. “I’m sure he is,” he proclaimed. “Although I’m sure it would be in his best interest that he keeps my warning in mind,” Mafala wrapped an arm around his daughter protectively and faced Arnold again, “Just because you are our prophet does not mean I would let you too close to my girl!”

Arnold felt himself growing tenser and even Nabulungi had adopted a concerned expression. _How close does he think we are?_ , he thought. _We’re just friends!_

“Oh, of course not! You don’t have to worry about Naba and I! We’re just friends…” he explained. He laughed quietly and nervously, but it didn’t seem to change Mafala’s mind at all. Arnold couldn’t blame him, though - he must’ve looked like a nervous wreck.

“Nabulungi,” the man said, softening his harsh expression, “Do not lie to me. How close are you to this boy?”

“We’re just friends, Baba! We promise!”

“Yeah!” Arnold shouted supportively. “In fact-”

_Oh no._

“-I’m already dating someone else!”

There was a pause as Nabulungi and her father both went quiet and turned their attention toward their prophet, who was currently a sweaty and unstable mess. The man wore a confused expression, but his daughter’s face began to light up with a bright smile.

“Really?!” she exclaimed. Arnold could practically see the stars in her eyes.

“Um… uh yeah…” _Well, no getting myself out of this one now._

“Who?” Mafala asked.

“Um.” Arnold raced through his mind trying to think of anyone he could believably date. _I’ve never dated anyone in my life! Why does my mouth come up with the worst things to say at the most inconvenient times?_ His thoughts stopped, however, when one person came to mind.

“Um…” Arnold could feel his face burning. He must have been bright red. “K-Kevin Price…”

The name only seemed to make Nabulungi’s smile and Mafala’s confusion grow, and Arnold knew he would certainly be going to hell for this one.

\----

Arnold ran quickly into the common room of the Mission Headquarters. As soon as he was inside, he slammed the door and leaned his back against it, trying to regulate his breathing again. The combination of nerves and his lack of fitness left him completely winded. His breaths gradually slowed to something more manageable, and he sank to the floor, his back still against the front door.

Suddenly, the very last person Arnold wanted to confront walked into the room.

“Hey, buddy. Everything okay? I heard the door slam…” Kevin was standing in the doorway that led to his and Arnold’s shared room. He looked genuinely concerned, and Arnold felt like he might throw up.

“Oh, uh… Everything is, um… fine?” Arnold said, scrambling to his feet.

“Are you sure?” his best friend asked, walking over, “Because you don’t look fine at all.”

“Well, I, um… You see…” Arnold attempted to come up with something, anything at all. After a moment, he ran a hand through his hair. _A lie got me into this mess, so I guess I’m just gonna have to tell the truth..._

“I, um… Oh gosh. I told another lie, Kevin…”

“Really?” The question was genuine. “I thought that problem was going away. It can’t have been a very big one, though. So just breathe, okay?”

“No… This one was big and… Oh no, I’ve gotten us into a lot of trouble…”

Kevin put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Arnold. Everything will be fi- Wait.” He paused. “What do you mean ‘us’?”

“Well, I…! Kevin, you are not gonna like this one at all…” Arnold mumbled.

The taller boy turned his friend and placed his other hand on Arnold’s remaining shoulder. He spoke with unmistakable authority. “Arnold. What exactly did you say?”

Arnold shrunk under Kevin’s glare. He couldn’t meet his friend’s eyes as he told him the truth.

“I um… I might have, uh… told Naba and her dad that we’re… dating…?”

Kevin’s face dropped and his grip on Arnold tightened. His face was blank and terrifying, and for a moment, Arnold knew what true fear felt like.

“You told them… what?”

Suddenly, words were coming out of Arnold’s mouth quicker than he could process them. “I told them we’re dating because her dad was getting suspicious that she and I were getting too close! I didn’t want him to stop me from talking to her, and I definitely don’t want him to give me his AIDs, so I just lied! I didn’t mean to, I swear! It just came out!”

“Arnold.”

The boy stopped, tears welling in his eyes. He took another look at his friend, who had seemed to calm down a bit if his loosened grip and softer face were anything to go by. Kevin removed his hands from Arnold and sighed heavily. 

“Okay, this is… kind of bad. Especially considering the fact that we are not actually dating.”

Arnold shifted his gaze to the floor, completely embarrassed and ashamed.

“But it’s okay. All we have to do is tell them that you panicked and lied, alright? This is simple.” Kevin was clearly trying to comfort the shorter boy, but telling the truth was the absolute last thing Arnold wanted to do.

“Kevin, I can’t! Her dad will wonder why I got so nervous! I don’t think he understands the concept of anxiety at all!” The tears started spilling over.

Arnold watched uneasily as Kevin mulled this over in his mind. He didn’t want to ask his best friend for such a big favor, but he couldn’t possibly risk losing contact with Nabulungi. She was the first real friend he had ever had, and the first person to genuinely believe in him. She was always sweet and happy and such a joyful part of Arnold’s life. If he was to spend another year and eight months in Uganda, he wanted to spend it next to Nabulungi.

Kevin sighed defeatedly. Then, he crossed his arms and gave his friend a small smile.

“Fine,” Kevin said. “But we’re gonna do this well, okay?”

Kevin Price would certainly be going to heaven for this one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jsyk, everything i write is a cheesy trope.
> 
> anyway, sorry this took a few days! i've been pretty busy with school and other stuff, but i'm determined to post all of this story eventually. anyway, here's the second chapter!!

Arnold laid on his side in his small bed, staring at the wall. About a foot away was his best friend, in his own small bed. That particular fact had been running through Arnold’s mind for the past half hour or so as he had tried to fall asleep. For some reason, he simply could not get Kevin Price out of his mind.

Arnold would have figured it was because of their strange interaction earlier that day, if this hadn’t been happening nearly every night for weeks on end. When Arnold shut his eyes, all he could see was Kevin; whether it was the thought of his bright smile or his new habit of throwing his arm around Arnold’s shoulders when he was happy, it was always Kevin.

That is not to say, though, that the conversation they shared didn’t factor in. Between the images of his best friend laughing happily, Arnold thought a lot about what happened. Kevin really agreed to pretend to date him. _He really agreed to pretend to be my… boyfriend_ , he thought to himself. Arnold knew, of course, that the reason behind it was less than romantic. Still, that didn’t change the fact that this would change everyone’s perception of their relationship. They did have to convince them it was true after all.

“...Are you still awake?”

Arnold jumped slightly at the noise. He turned to his other side to face the source. He noticed in the moonlight coming through their window that Kevin was laying on his back with his hands folded neatly on his stomach.

“Um, yeah. What’s up?”

“I’m just…” he hesitated. “I’m just thinking about this, uh… thing. I guess.”

“What about it?” Arnold asked - as if he had not just been thinking about the exact same thing - and propped himself up on his elbow.

“Well, it’s just that there’s a lot of stuff we’re going to have to work out.” The shorter boy waited for him to elaborate, so Kevin continued. “I mean, we’re going to have to come up with how and when it all happened. And then we’ll probably get a lot of questions about our sexualities considering-”

“That one is easy! I’m already bisexual! At least, I think that’s what it’s called.”

“Wait,” Kevin looked shocked. He turned his head to look at the other. “Really?”

“Yeah! I didn’t even know it was a sin for boys to like other boys until Connor told us about it!”

Kevin blinked, and then shifted his gaze back to the ceiling. He stayed quiet, apparently not knowing what to say, so Arnold continued the conversation for him.

“As for everything else, it won’t be that hard. In fact, I bet we could come up with it right now!”

“Mmm… Yeah, that would probably make things easier, wouldn’t it? We would already have everything sorted out for tomorrow.”

“Then let’s figure it out!”

Kevin shuffled in his bed to sit up and lean against the headboard. Arnold stayed in his position and watched.

“So,” Kevin offered, adjusting his covers, “How does this start?”

“Well, I guess it would just be easier to say that one of us asked the other out!”

“I honestly feel like it would be me who asked you out.”

Arnold laughed slightly. “Probably! I’m not very good with that kind of stuff. Plus, you’ve got so much more confidence than I do!”

Kevin made a face at the comment, but it was gone before Arnold could see what it meant.

“Okay… So I asked you. And we can say I did it about… two months ago?”

“Two months is good! When did you start liking me?”

Kevin hesitated, and if Arnold looked close enough, he thought he could see a bit of red forming on the boy’s cheeks.

“Um, maybe a bit after the whole… incident happened. So, like, four months ago, probably.”

“Oh, really?” Arnold drew out his words in an attempt to seem overly dramatic. Maybe he was enjoying this a bit too much.

“Yeah, sure,” Kevin said flatly. “How about you?”

“From the moment we met!” Arnold pushed himself up to sit.

The other elder paused. “Wait… Do you mean formally met when we were paired together? Or do you mean back when we took those classes together in high school?”

Arnold could feel his heart about to burst from joy. “You remember sharing classes with me?!” The boy bounced out of his own bed and ended up half-sitting on his friend’s.

Kevin shushed him quickly. Right, Arnold had forgotten there were other people sleeping in the same small house. _What time is it anyway?_

“Yeah, of course,” Kevin whispered. “I don’t remember exactly which classes, but I know you were there.”

“That’s so cool! I thought you didn’t know me at all!” Arnold could barely contain himself. He took Kevin’s face in his hands in his excitement.

Suddenly, the door to their room swung open harshly. The boys jumped, and Arnold pulled himself closer to Kevin instinctively, wrapping his arms around Kevin’s neck. In the doorway, Connor McKinley stood in his t-shirt and boxers. His red hair was a mess, and his face looked frustrated and sleepy.

“Can you two _please_ quiet down? Everyone else is trying to- Uh.”

He stopped suddenly and his eyes opened a bit more when he noticed the position the boys were in. A moment passed before the two realized exactly what they looked like to Connor. Kevin was frozen, his eyes wide and a deep blush forming on his face. Arnold, however, was going through thoughts faster than he knew was possible. With only one explanation in sight, he took action.

“We’re dating,” he exclaimed.

Connor’s eyebrows raised, and after a moment, he turned his attention to the other elder. Kevin smiled sheepishly as a weak confirmation, his face completely red.

The oldest boy rolled his eyes. “Look,” he said. “It’s 1:30 in the morning. Can we deal with this later?”

Arnold and Kevin glanced at each other, and then nodded to Connor.

“Great. Goodnight,” he said, shutting the door on his way out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these next two chapters are so short and late and GOD i really hope the way i write kevin is okay because i'm kind of afraid i'm writing him too ooc. either way, enjoy!

“So… You’ve been secretly dating for two whole months?”

Arnold was explaining the made-up situation to Connor as Kevin sat awkwardly across the large dining table from them.

“Well,” he said casually. “It wasn’t really a secret. We just never told anyone.”

“How did it never cross your mind to tell anyone? I would’ve thought if you two ever got together, you would’ve told everyone immediately,” Connor stated, placing his chin in his hand.

“Wait,” Kevin interjected. “What do you mean?”

Arnold and Connor turned their attention to him, clearly confused.

Kevin sighed. “You said ‘if we ever got together’ as if you’d... thought about it before. Why…?”

Arnold understood and stared questioningly back at Connor. The oldest boy shrugged his shoulders and explained.

“Well, you were a _little_ obvious. I knew you guys were going start dating at some point, but I honestly didn’t think it had already happened.”

The companions shared a glance. What did Connor mean by that? How were they “obvious” when they hadn’t actually been together? Arnold hadn’t ever thought about Kevin as anything other than a friend. _Well, except for a few times, but those were just on accident!_

Connor stood up at that. “Well, at any rate, I’m happy for you both. It takes a lot of strength to go against the rules you’ve been taught all your life,” he stated. Then he smirked. “But, I guess it’s probably a little easier when one of you is a prophet who rewrote a whole religion to include people like us.” At that, the boy ruffled Arnold’s hair and walked off.

“Well, I guess we convinced Connor, huh?” Arnold said, looking back to make sure he was out of the room.

“Yeah, that was… surprisingly easy.” He paused to think for a moment. “What even was that whole thing about us being ‘obvious’?”

“I don’t know,” the shorter boy replied.

“Does everyone already think we like each other?” Kevin asked seemingly nobody.

“...I don’t know.”

\----

It seemed like the moment the pair found their way into the Ugandan village, they were immediately greeted by Nabulungi.

“Arnold! Kevin! Hello!!” She tackled them into a big hug.

“Woah, hey,” Kevin said, trying to balance himself after she pulled herself off of them. He smiled playfully. “What was all that for?”

“I’m sorry!” she exclaimed with a large, clearly unapologetic grin. “I just cannot help it! I am still so happy for both of you!”

“O-Oh yeah…” Kevin said, flushing a bit. Arnold rubbed the back of his neck.

“I was so excited that I just had to tell everyone!”

The boys froze.

Arnold laughed nervously. “You, um, already told everyone…? You mean just like your friends right?”

She punched the shorter boy’s arm lightly. “No, silly! I told the whole village! They were all very glad to hear it, but a lot of them told me they were very surprised to learn that our prophet is gay!”

Arnold took the opportunity to steer the conversation from the relationship. “Ah, I don’t know if I’d specifically call myself gay, Naba,” he said, his smile growing more genuine.

“Oh, do you call it something different where you’re from?”

“No!” he laughed. “It’s just that I still like girls! I’m bi, duh!”

“Oh,” she said, drawing it out. It seemed like she really hadn’t considered that possibility.

Arnold turned to Kevin to include him more in the conversation, only to notice how tense and uncomfortable he looked. His eyes were glued to the ground, like he was thinking very hard about something. Arnold gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, are you alright?”

This caused Nabulungi to notice as well. Her face dropped, but she didn’t move to comfort him. Kevin snapped out of his moment of thought and rapidly shifted his gaze between his two friends.

“Oh, sorry! I guess I, um… I never really thought about myself being gay…”

“Well don’t you like boys?” the girl questioned a bit too bluntly.

“I, um…” He looked to his “boyfriend” for assurance, which he gave in a soft, apologetic smile.

“I like Arnold…”

Nabulungi immediately perked up. “Well, that’s okay!” she exclaimed. “I know in your old religion it was bad to love other boys, but now we have the Book of Arnold! And it says that you can do whatever you want as long as you don’t hurt others! Doesn’t it?” She put her hands on her hips and looked cheerfully toward the prophet.

“I guess so! And hey,” he said, turning to Kevin. “You don’t have to call yourself anything if you don’t want to.” _I got you into this mess in the first place, so don’t worry too much about it!_

Kevin smiled back, and Arnold felt himself weaken for a moment.

“Well, come on you two!” Nabulungi yelled, already skipping into town. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people who are waiting to see you today!”

They began walking, and they hadn’t gotten very far when Arnold felt something grab his hand. He looked up at his friend. Kevin was looking away.

“We should, um… probably hold hands so we don’t seem too awkward and disconnected…”

Arnold smiled. “Okay!”

A moment passed before Kevin squeezed his hand.

“Also, uh… thanks.”

“No problem, best friend.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everything about this is bad haha whoops

Arnold and Kevin dragged themselves through the doorway of the missionaries’ small home. They found their way to the nearby sofa and immediately dropped their tired bodies onto it. The boys’ were completely drained after their long day out with Nabulungi, going places, doing things, and most of all, answering questions. They laid there still for a while, with Kevin leaning against the back of the couch and Arnold splayed across the rest of it - including Kevin’s legs.

“I am… so tired.” Arnold stated.

“Yeah, no kidding. Those people are nice, but they can be super overwhelming.”

Another nice moment of silence passed.

“Wait…” Kevin said slowly, opening his eyes. His friend only hummed in response.

“We got asked a lot of questions today… You don’t think we could have mixed up our stories, do you?”

Arnold contemplated this for a moment and then sat back up, regaining his usual energy. Kevin simply lifted his head up to look at him.

“Well, what did you tell people?” Arnold asked, a little bit nervous to hear all the things his best friend had said about him.

“Most of the questions didn’t delve too deep, so I kept it pretty simple, I think. I mostly just told them how long we’d been together and, um… I got asked what I like about you a lot…”

Arnold felt his heartbeat speed up as he tried to talk casually. “Oh, uh… What, um, what did you say?”

“Mmm… I said that you’re funny and you always know how to make me smile when I’m down. And that you’re really committed and don’t give up. And that you have cute glasses. But I already thought most of that stuff as friends, so it’s not a big deal.”

A blush crept up on Arnold’s face. “Even the glasses part?”

Kevin just chuckled a little in response. “What did you say? I’m sure you got a lot more questions than I did; the people here seem to like you more.”

“I don’t know about that,” the boy said, shrugging. “But I did get a lot of questions! There wasn’t a lot I could elaborate on, though, since we wouldn’t have had the chance to do things like dates.”

Kevin simply nodded.

“But, um… I did tell them that we had kissed a couple times…” Arnold confessed, turning red again.

“Oh.” Kevin looked around the room. Arnold thought that if he hadn’t seen him blush last night, he was definitely seeing it now. _That’s not surprising, though. I’m sure this whole ordeal is really embarrassing for him._

“Um… Do you think that means…,” the taller boy started, but looked too nervous (or possibly ashamed) to continue. Arnold gave him a small smile, trying to will him to go on.

“Does it… mean we’ll have to kiss in front of other people?” He asked hesitantly, staring at his shoes.

Arnold honestly hadn’t considered that, and now he felt dumb for even mentioning it. Kissing was typically a part of relationships, but why hadn’t he thought to consider how Kevin would feel about it? It would have been just as easy and believable to say they hadn’t kissed yet. _Honestly, I’m such an idiot sometimes._

“Hey,” Kevin said, regaining Arnold’s attention. He didn’t look as upset as he had a minute ago, which made Arnold feel a bit better.

His “boyfriend” continued. “It’s um, it’s okay if we have to kiss, I guess. I haven’t had my first kiss yet, but at this point, it’s not like it matters all that much. We’re gonna be here for a while, and when we get back we’ll be twenty-one. Might as well get it over with, y’know?” Kevin cracked a small smile that Arnold thought looked a lot more unsteady than it was intended to be.

What Kevin was saying did make sense, though. And as nervous as the thought of actually kissing his best friend made him, it would make it a lot easier to convince people they were telling the truth about their relationship. Arnold could feel the butterflies in his stomach rising just thinking about his next question.

“So…” he started slowly, “if you’re okay with it, do you want to just kiss now and get it out of the way?”

Kevin looked up at him, the blush on his face only growing darker. Then suddenly, he turned his head the other way, most likely thinking about his answer as he squirmed in his seat. Arnold watched patiently as Kevin took in a deep breath to calm himself and turned back to face him.

“Yes. Or, uh, yeah. We can do that.”

Arnold smiled and shifted in his seat, bringing himself closer to his best friend. Kevin took a few more breaths before doing the same, until they found themselves with their faces inches apart.

“Do you know anything about kissing?” Kevin asked with a small smile.

“Nope! Not at all.”

“Well, at least neither of us will know how bad we are, I guess.” Kevin’s voice sounded shaky and uncertain.

“Are you ready?”

“...Yes”

Arnold took a deep breath, screwed his eyes shut, and started leaning forward towards Kevin’s face. And he kept leaning. And kept leaning until he almost fell forward onto the empty couch. He threw his arms out quickly to keep himself from falling and opened his eyes to see Kevin standing, looking the other way and clearly distraught. Confused, Arnold started to question before the other boy cut him off.

“I changed my mind.”

“What? But it was your idea that-”

“I said I changed my mind!” he snapped. Kevin took another deep breath before continuing, calmer this time. “I just- I don’t want to... kiss you right now.”

Arnold moved back to his former position and slumped his shoulders. He couldn’t see the problem. It made sense for Kevin to be a little bit on edge, especially since he said this would be his first kiss, but he had already said it was okay! _Unless_ , Arnold thought, _being in the moment made him realize how gross it would be to kiss me..._ He felt his stomach drop at the thought.

“It’s getting late,” Kevin stated, breaking the heavy and awkward silence between them. “I’m gonna go to bed. Goodnight.” With that, he rushed off to their shared room before hearing Arnold’s reply.


End file.
